NEIGHBOR
DEAREST
CHAPTER ONE

My little sister is such a drama queen. Literally. Jade is an actress on Broadway.

She clapped her hands together, applauding the students
who’d just bravely put themselves out there to try out for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. “You all did such a
great job today! Tomorrow we cast the roles and start our first rehearsal. This
is gonna be epic!”

Jade had come out to the Bay Area to visit our family for
the week and offered to volunteer at the youth center where I worked. Since
there wasn’t enough time to produce an entire play, Jade decided to direct the
kids in one key scene from the musical that would be performed later in the
week.

I loved my job as director of the arts at the Mission Youth
Center. It was just about the only thing going right in my life. The only
downside was the fact that these walls were haunted by memories of my ex, Elec,
who used to be a youth counselor here. That was how we met. He’d loved his job,
too, until he quit so that he could move to New York after we broke up. He
moved to be with her. I shook my head
to shoo away thoughts of him and Greta.

Jade grabbed her purse. “I need to go back to your place to
use the bathroom and have a quick bite.”

I’d just moved into a new apartment that was only a few
blocks away from my job. The lease had finally run out on the place I’d been
renting with Elec across town. Even though my ex sent me his half of the rent
for the remainder of our lease after he’d moved out, I couldn’t wait to vacate
that place; every corner of it reminded me of him and of the miserable months
that followed our break up.

My place was right in the south central section of the
Mission District. I loved the culture in my new neighborhood. Produce bins and
a variety of cafes lined the streets. It was also a mecca for Latin culture,
which was great, except for the fact that it reminded me of Elec, who was half
Ecuadorian. Little reminders of the guy who broke my heart were everywhere.

Jade and I strolled down the sidewalk, stopping at a fruit
stand so that she could buy some papayas for an afternoon smoothie she planned
to make back at my apartment. We also ended up getting two coffees to go.

I bent back the opening on my coffee lid as we walked. “So,
little sis, I never thought we would be in the same predicament at the same
time.”

Jade had recently been dumped by her musician boyfriend.

“Yes. But the difference is, I feel like I have way more
distractions in my life than you do. It’s not that I don’t think about Justin.
It’s not that I don’t get sad, but my performances keep me so busy that it’s
almost like I don’t have time to wallow in it, you know?”

“I told you I’ve been doing these phone therapy sessions,
right?”

Jade took a sip then shook her head. “No.”

“Yeah. I found this psychologist who specializes in trauma
from failed relationships, but she’s in Canada. Anyway, we do phone sessions
one night a week.”

“Is it helping?”

“It always helps to talk things out.”

“Yeah. But no offense, you don’t seem any better for it.
Anyway, you can talk things out with Claire or me. You don’t need to pay big
bucks to talk to a stranger.”

“Nighttime is really my only time to talk to anyone. You’re
performing at night, and Claire is too wrapped up in being a blissful newlywed.
Besides, she’s never had her heart broken. She listens, but she doesn’t get
it.”

Our older sister, Claire, married her high school
sweetheart. Even though the three of us were close growing up in nearby
Sausalito, I’d always felt more comfortable opening up to Jade.

When we arrived at my building, my sister stopped to sit on
one of the benches in the corner of the fenced-in courtyard. “Let’s sit for a
bit, finish our coffees.” Her gaze wandered across the grass to my shirtless
neighbor. “Okay…who’s the hottie in the beanie defacing the property?”

“What is it with you and beanies?”

“Justin used to wear one. That’s why I love them. Isn’t that
sad?”

“That is sad.”

“This from the girl who still sleeps in her ex’s shirt.”

“It’s comfortable. It has nothing to do with Elec,” I lied.
It was the one thing I allowed myself from him. It made me sad, but I wore it
anyway.

“So…who is that guy?”

I didn’t know my neighbor’s name, but I’d see him once in a
while doing spray paint art along the wrap-around concrete wall that surrounded
the property. It served as a vast canvas. His spray painting was true art,
definitely not what would be considered simple graffiti. It was an elaborate
mix of celestial and geographical images. This guy just kept adding different
artwork to the wall gradually. It was a work in progress. I could only assume
he planned to paint the entire circumference of the property, as much as the
wall space would allow.

“He lives in the building, next door to me, actually.”

“What is he doing? They allow him to do that here?”

“I don’t know. The first time I saw him out here, I thought
he was vandalizing the property. But no one seems to care or stop him. Every
day, he adds to the mural. It’s actually quite beautiful. But it doesn’t match
his personality.”

Jade blew on her coffee. “What do you mean?”

“He’s not very nice.”

“You’ve talked to him?”

“No. He’s just not friendly. I’ve tried to make eye contact,
but he walks right by me. He has these two big dogs, and they’re pretty mean.
They bark all of the time. He walks them every morning.”

“Maybe he’s like a savant. You know, really good with art.
Or maybe he’s a genius but with limited social skills. What do they call
that…Asperger’s?”

“No. He communicates just fine. I’ve seen him yelling at a
few people. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have that. This guy is just not
friendly. He doesn’t have Asperger’s. He’s just an ass.”

Jade chuckled. “I think you should totally stop by his place
with some warm muffins wrapped up in a basket. It’s the neighborly thing to do.
Maybe he’ll loosen up…or loosen you up.”

“Muffins, huh? What’s that code for?”

“Muff…muffins. Same thing. If I lived here, I’d be all over
that. But I don’t live here. You do.
And you totally need a distraction. I say…he’s it.”

I admired the guy’s broad shoulders and tanned muscular back
as his arm moved the spray can up and down. “God, doesn’t he remind you of
Elec, though? Arm tattoo…dark hair. Artistic. Basically, that’s the last type of guy I’m going for at this
point.”

“So, if someone looks like or seems similar to Elec, then
they’re automatically disqualified? They’re destined to do the same thing Elec
did? Is that how you think? That’s just stupid rationale.”

“Maybe that’s fucked-up. But the last thing I want is to be
with someone who reminds me of him in the least.”

“Well, that’s a shame, because Elec was freaking hot, and
this guy…is even hotter.”

“Can you remind me why we’re discussing this? The dude
doesn’t even say hello to me. He’s not signing up to be on this delusional
version of The Bachelorette. He’s not
interested.”

Neighbor Dearest suddenly wiped the
sweat from his forehead, took off the mask covering his nose and mouth, and
dumped the spray cans into a black drawstring sack. He slung it over his
shoulder and just when I thought he was going to walk away and out of the
courtyard, he began to walk in our direction. Jade straightened in her seat,
and I hated that my pulse raced a bit.

His eyes were focused on me. I wouldn’t call it an angry
stare, but he wasn’t smiling. The sunlight beamed directly into his blue eyes,
which glowed and really stood out against his tan skin. Jade was right; this
guy was truly gorgeous.

“Blueberry are my favorite,” he said.

“What?”

“Muffins.”

“Oh.”

Jade snorted but stayed silent, letting me take the brunt of
this humiliation.

“And I’m not anti-social or a savant. I’m just a good
old-fashioned prick…with supersonic hearing.”

He smirked and walked away before I could say anything.

When he was safely out of earshot—for real this time—Jade
sighed. “Angry guys are the best in bed.”

A STANDALONE NOVEL that
does NOT need to be read in conjunction with any other book.

From New York Times bestselling author, Penelope Ward, comes a
friends-to-lovers story with sexy new characters.

After getting dumped, the
last thing I needed was to move next door to someone who reminded me of my
ex-boyfriend, Elec.

Damien was a hotter version
of my ex.

The neighbor I’d dubbed
“Angry Artist” also had two massive dogs that kept me up with their barking.

He wanted nothing to do
with me. Or so I thought until one night I heard laughter coming through an
apparent hole in my bedroom wall.

Damien had been listening
to all of my phone sessions with my therapist.

The sexy artist next door
now knew all of my deepest secrets and insecurities.

We got to talking.

He set me straight with
tips to get over my breakup.

He became a good friend,
but Damien made it clear that he couldn’t be anything more.

Problem was, I was falling
hard for him anyway. And as much as he pushed me away, I knew he felt the
same…because his heartbeat didn’t lie.

I thought my heart had been
broken by Elec, but it was alive and beating harder than ever for Damien.

I just hoped he wouldn’t
shatter it for good.

Author's note – Neighbor Dearest is a full-length standalone novel. Due to strong
language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the
age of 18.

About the Author:

Penelope
Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling
author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her
twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more
family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl
with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode
Island.